The new terminal arrives amid a campaign, led by London mayor Boris Johnson, to close Heathrow and build a new high-capacity airport in a river estuary on the other side of the city.

It's a plan unlikely to derail Heathrow's $18.5 billion long-term plan to remodel the airport along the lines of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport -- the world's busiest.

Holland-Kaye said the Terminal 2 would help alleviate some of the current problems, but officials would still pursue a "politically complex" campaign to build an environmentally controversial third runway.

"We are ready and able and have private money to deliver the hub airport that Britain needs and deserves," he said.